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  MOHAMMAD ALAVI It may be possible to spot celebrities dining at the Hollywood Canteen in West Hollywood.

By Sophia Whang

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

While some people daydream of eating lunch with their favorite stars, others wait for hours before premieres and after concerts just to catch a glimpse of them.

However, there is an easier way.

Since celebrities are known to lead “normal” lives, we can invariably lead “normal” lives with them. We can go to the same restaurants, the same bars, and even take the same dance classes as them.

From word of mouth and a little research on where celebrities choose to spend their time, I am visiting a few popular places to see how simple it is to spot and hang out with the stars.

The first place on my schedule is a trendy café on Melrose Avenue called Urth Caffé.

The place is always packed with people sipping the restaurant’s organic teas, eating its low-fat meals, and socializing on its perfect-for-people-watching patio.

There are celebrities, like Meg Ryan, who are such regulars that the workers know what the stars want even before they order.

“One of the previous managers wasn’t only talking about which celebrities came in, but also about what their favorite kinds of tea were,” said Bonnie McNeil, a waitress at a neighboring café.

Another spot famous for its celebrity sightings is a bar and club on Cahuenga Boulevard called Hollywood Canteen, which has served as a home to celebrities for years.

  Illustration by JARRETT QUON/Daily Bruin Once owned by actor Bette Davis in the 1940s, it began as a place for servicemen with celebrities waiting on them. In 1991, the founder of Virgin Records, billionaire Richard Branson, turned the place into a clubhouse that catered only to entertainment.

Its two new owners, John Kim and Michael Sutton, took over five years ago and revamped the place into a bar and a restaurant. With only three weeks since its new location and opening, the place is packed nearly every night.

“In Hollywood, if people start talking, it’s like seeing a good movie,” Kim said. “And if it’s hard to get in, people want to get in more. On Thursday nights, we turn away a hundred people, and they come back.”

From its VIP room to its grassy bar area with a shark tank, the bar’s atmosphere is peculiarly warm yet modern. Three separate parts of Hollywood Canteen are supposed to simulate the atmosphere of New York, Los Angeles and Miami. This ambience is undoubtedly what draws the celebrities in.

“Usually at a club the music is really loud and you can’t move,” Kim said, “but celebrities like this place because this looks like the backyard of someone’s house, like you’re going to a house party.”

I did not run into any stars during my visit, but even when people do, they are known to keep their cool in this often star-studded bar.

“When you walk into a place this size and see Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs, people think it’s cool,” Kim said. “But no one really bothers them. It’s mostly entertainment people here, like studio executives or assistants, so they’re not so star-stuck and run up to them.”

Rap stars Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg recently had a party at the bar, and a private UCLA graduation party was also planned to be held there. Despite what its name might imply, Hollywood Canteen is not exclusive to only Hollywood and its denizens.

If not at the bar, celebrities can get their groove on in a dance studio. On my previous visits to Millennium Dance Complex, I have run into recording artists Britney Spears, Mya and Pink. The studio provides a convenient way to spot the stars while getting a good workout and first-rate instruction from its top choreographers.

“I don’t think people come in only for (the celebrities),” said Levis Francis, manager of Millennium. “We have some of the best classes and instructors here. Wade Robson, who teaches every other Friday night, choreographed for Britney Spears and *NSYNC.

The celebrities usually only rent studio space, but some also take the group dance classes with the regular students.

“Just about every single day, there’s some celebrity here,” Francis said. “They generally won’t come and take the dance classes with everyone else, but I know that *NSYNC has come and taken classes a couple of times, and I know a lot of the new artists will as well.”

“It’s absolutely not intimidating for regular people because that’s most of our clientele. Actually, they like that celebrities come because they always want to get a chance to see who’s coming in next,” Francis added.

Star watchers only have to walk down the studio’s aisle to see the signed CD cases and posters of Tyrese, Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears, among others, with personal thank-yous written out to Millennium.

The last place on my list to visit, and the most obvious, is Wolfgang Puck’s Beverly Hills restaurant, Spago.

In addition to being filled with celebrities during annual Academy Awards after-parties, it is known to cater to the most well-known people with the most talked-about names on a regular basis.

During my visit, Ali Landry, famous for her Doritos commercials, was sitting at a table adjacent to me. Wolfgang Puck paid a personal visit to her and her lunch date, but must have forgotten to visit my table.

Whether it is the Doritos model or Britney Spears, I still get that immediate surge of excitement when seeing a star. However, I have actually never approached a celebrity, unless I was introduced to one. After living in Los Angeles for so many years, it almost becomes second nature to run into a celebrity.

It is easier to spot celebrities in these popular hangouts than at events such as premieres where they are bombarded with crazed fans and cutthroat paparazzi.

These spots provide a close view of the stars, rather than a mere sighting, and allow you to hang out with celebrities without having to go through the trouble of getting your people to call their people.